


The Hidden Queendom

by Cynder2013



Category: Forever (TV 2014), Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Amazons (Percy Jackson), Corpses, Gen, I had plans at the time I wrote this, Murder Mystery, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Police, Secrets, but we're going to ignore them for now, this is also technically a crossover with House of Night
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:49:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 9,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24562645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cynder2013/pseuds/Cynder2013
Summary: Telling Jo his secret went a lot better than Henry hoped. Unfortunately when they begin to work at unmasking yet another murderer Jo will have to juggle his secret with some of her own as the investigation takes her deep into a world hidden from the average New Yorker. In 1902 in Toronto, Henry finds himself caught up in the mystery of a woman who shows up in the oddest places.(Originally started in August 2015.)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 6





	1. Chapter 1

Conducting job interviews was harder than Hylla had thought it would be. There was the fact that people didn’t bother to read the job posting properly, which meant that she ended up wasting hours interviewing men. Then there was the decision she had made to interview everyone who had applied. She and her court had decided that the best way to decide who to take as Amazon initiates was to meet them face to face. After the first week of traveling all over the United States for interviews they all regretted that decision. They were worn out and they hadn’t even started on other countries yet! The worst part was that even with all the work they were doing they had only gotten twenty initiates, and there wasn’t any guarantee that they’d still be there once their trial year was up.

So when Hylla arrived in New York she wasn’t in the best mood. On the first day she hired one girl who was just starting collage, Nancy Bobofit, but they lost one Amazon during an attack on Olympus (long story) so technically they were worse off than when the day had started. On the second day she had to waste her time interviewing three males and none of the women who applied were good Amazon candidates. Honestly, did any of them even read the job posting? It clearly stated that they wanted _women_ preferably with an athletic background. She did file a few of the women she interviewed under ‘Potential Callback’ but she’d only be going there if she got really desperate.

On the third day they got a recruit sent over from the Hunters of Artemis. Maria Ortiz was a twelve-year-old daughter of Ares who the Hunters had found in Buffalo, New York. She had been interested in joining the Hunters but hadn’t wanted to swear off boys and decided to join the Amazons rather than go to Camp Half-Blood. She had a lot of promise as a Warrior.

The first interview Hylla had that day went well enough but she wasn’t sure that the woman was Amazon material. Or maybe she was just tired and annoyed that the other woman had been unbelievably perky. There was that. Then Alexandria Kader came into her office. The black-haired young woman walked confidently through the door and introduced herself, shaking Hylla’s hand before sitting down. She was wearing a grey pantsuit, unlike the perky woman who had been wearing a pink dress that would be hell to fight in, with a tight black shirt underneath the jacket. Her eyes were rimmed with kohl, which worked to draw attention to her eyes and away from the acne scars on her cheeks. 

“Why do you want to work at Amazon, Alexandria?” Hylla asked while she searched for her resume and application among the mess of papers on her desk. _Note to self_ , she thought, _clean desk before next interview._

“Please, call me Ria,” Alexandria said quickly. “I saw your job posting online and I thought it sounded interesting. I was looking for a job so I thought that I should apply.” 

“Hmm.” Hylla had found the application and was skimming though it quickly. She had remembered correctly that Ria was a fencer. That was good, they still needed more swordfighters. “How good of a fencer are you?”

“I’ve fenced épée at a few state tournaments,” Ria told her.

Hylla leaned towards her. “But are you any _good_?”

“One gold and three silvers,” the other woman replied without batting an eye. “The gold was from last year.”

“Can you follow orders?” Hylla made note of the small scowl that Ria gave when she was asked this question.

Orders were a bit of a touchy subject for Ria, but she truthfully replied, “To the letter.” 

“Do you work well with other people?”

“When they aren’t always telling me what to do.”

Hylla raised an eyebrow. “You just said that you follow orders to the letter.”

“Following orders is one thing but someone telling you what your every move should be is another,” Ria pointed out. Hylla nodded in understanding. So far Ria looked like she would be a good choice for an initiate. She had the attitude and the skills. She could just have the job now.

Hylla wasn’t jumping to conclusions. She was just really good at reading people.

Deciding to skip ahead a few questions, the Amazon Queen asked, “What do you know about Greek and Roman myths?”

Ria looked thrown by this question. Despite all the other strange things there hadn’t been anything about mythology on the job application. She organized her thoughts for a few seconds so that she wouldn’t just start saying “Um...”

“A fair bit. I know some of the stories backwards and forwards but others not so much. I mostly know Greek mythology.” That was good, better than all the other applicants anyway. Hylla was preparing to ask her next question when a glowing orange hologram appeared over Ria’s head. Hylla’s mouth dropped open.

She was being claimed, as a Greek legacy according to the orange glow.

Ria blinked at Hylla and then followed her gaze to the orange holographic ball of twine that was hovering over her own head. “What the hell is that?” she exclaimed just as the image began fading away.

“You’ve been claimed,” Hylla said slowly. “By…Peitho.” She surprised herself by remembering not only the goddess but also her Greek name.

“By…Is this some kind of joke?” Ria demanded, standing up with her hands palms down on the desk. “What do you mean by ‘claiming’? And what does the goddess of persuasion have to do with anything?” She knew that Peitho, a minor goddess whose Roman form was Suadela, was the goddess of persuasion? She was definitely Amazon material.

Hylla waved her hand and two mugs of chamomile tea appeared on her desk. Ria jerked backwards. “Sit down,” Hylla told her. “It’s a long story.”

* * *

Before Henry would tell Jo anything Abe insisted on going up to the kitchen and pouring all of them drinks. When he brought out a practically antique bottle of whiskey Jo tried to protest but he ignored her saying that she was going to need it.

“What would you say if I told you that I’m more than two hundred years old?” Henry finally asked. He was deadly serious, so even though Jo wanted to laugh she didn’t. She took a sip of her drink.

“I would tell you that vampires are out of style,” she replied just as seriously.

“Well, that’s the truth. I was born in 1779 and I haven’t aged a day since April 7, 1814.” He took a fortifying sip of his own drink. “That was the first time I died, by the way.”

Jo stared. And stared, and stared, and stared.

And stared. “I think you broke her, Pops,” Abe said with half a smirk.

“That’s not possible, Abraham,” Henry admonished.

Jo somehow managed to find her voice. “‘Pops’?” she asked weakly. Abe topped up her glass. “You are Abe’s father.” Henry nodded.

“I’m adopted,” Abe admitted. “That’s why we don’t look alike.”

“So that’s you in the picture,” Jo deducted slowly. “With…”

“Abigail and Abraham,” Henry finished. Abigail, Abe’s mother who he had just buried, was Henry’s wife. Jo now understood why her friend had been so emotional through the entire investigation, he had been looking for his wife, not just his friend’s mother. 

“And when you say that 1814 was the first time you died…?” That was the part of the explanation that Henry was looking forward to the least. She hadn’t called him crazy yet though which made him feel a bit more hopeful. He looked at Abe, who nodded encouragingly.

“I’ve died a lot since then. Every time I die I’m, I suppose you could say ‘reborn’, in water. Here that’s the East River.” Abe coughed pointedly. “And I always return naked.”

Jo blinked and laughed once before cutting herself off. She didn’t want to be rude. “All those public indecency charges are times that you’ve died?” 

Henry gave a small smile. “Yes. Some of them were better than others, I assure you.” By which he meant the times he had died saving someone else’s life.

Jo shook her head. “Henry, this is…”

“Unbelievable?” Abe suggested. “He told me when I was twelve and I never doubted him.” Henry gave Abe _the look_ that told him to be polite. Abe rolled his eyes at him. 

“Kids will believe almost anything,” Jo pointed out.

“He’d died in front of me an hour before,” Abe said.

“Oh.”

Abe sat back with a sigh. “Well one thing’s for sure, life is never boring with my dad around.” That was too true. How many times had he dragged her into crazy adventures while they were working on a case? Jo laughed.

Henry took his second sip of his drink. “You’re taking this rather well, Detective.”

Jo looked him in the eye. “Henry, you’re my friend. What you’re saying is humanly impossible but I trust you. You’re also a bad liar.” Also the whiskey was probably helping.

“Am I?” Henry asked with a genuine look of befuddlement on his face. “On the contrary I believe I am a very good liar. I’ve lasted this long, haven’t I?”

“Maybe I’m just more observant than everyone else you’ve had to lie to.” Jo smiled at him and he smiled back.

Abe drained his glass and clapped his hands down on the table. “Okay this is getting too touchy-feely for me. Don’t we have a chess game to finish?”

“Abraham!” Henry chided.

Jo put a hand on his arm. “It’s okay, Grandad. I call playing the winner.” Henry groaned at his new nickname.

Abe grinned widely. “I knew there was a reason I like you.”

They went back into the shop and Henry and Abe finished their game. Henry won. While he and Jo became engrossed in playing each other Abe dug out checkers, backgammon, and an old Monopoly board. They spent the rest of the evening laughing over board games, drinking hot chocolate, and forcing Henry to eat the Chinse take-out that Abe ordered for dinner.

Across town in the tunnels under the Amazon office Ria was meeting her new roommates, her head spinning with the new things she had learned. The Greek, Roman, even Egyptian myths were real. One of her parents was descended from a Greek goddess who had claimed her as her own. She was an initiate of the Amazons, elite female warriors who used the company Amazon as a front all over the world. And she had found out that she had been accepted to the NYC police academy.

It was a crazy day.

“I’m Nancy,” said the freckled collage girl with dyed black hair. “This is Maria.”

“I can introduce myself!” the twelve-year-old insisted. Her short brown hair stood up in spikes all over her head and her onyx eyes bored into Ria. “You’re a newbie to, right?”

“Yes, I am.” Ria said. She fixed Maria with her _Jaddah, I am_ not _doing that_ look.

Maria grinned. “I think we’ll get along just fine.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Jaddah" is supposedly Arabic for "Grandmother", based on whatever research I did when I was originally writing this story. No one's corrected me on it, so either it's correct or nobody who knows better bothered to send me a message.


	2. Chapter 2

“Jo, your pit bull is arriving today,” Hanson said as he dropped into his desk. “Lieutenant Reece told me to tell you.” 

Jo blinked. “My _what?_ ”

“Your pit bull. Your ball and chain. Your shadow.” When none of these answers alleviated Jo’s confusion Hanson sighed and muttered something about how she was _supposed_ to be a detective. “The kid from the police academy is coming today.”

“Oh. Right.” Jo looked up from the book Henry had lent her, startled. “That’s today?”

“Yes, Jo, that’s today. Gee is,” he checked the title of her book “ _On the Origin of Species_ that distracting?”

“Actually, it’s very interesting. Henry lent it to me. Maybe he’ll let you borrow it when I’m done.”

“I think I’ll pass thanks.”

With nothing else to do, Jo went back to reading and Hanson began playing some sort of game on his laptop, discreetly of course but he was clicking the mouse too often to be doing work. A few minutes later they heard someone approaching. Hanson quickly shut his laptop just as Lieutenant Reece turned the corner with a young woman in uniform following behind her.

“Lieutenant,” Jo greeted with a nod.

“Detective. This is Alexandria Kader. She’ll be your student for the next four weeks. Try not to get her killed.” Alexandria stood at attention as Lieutenant Reese walked away.

“At ease, trainee.” Jo held out her hand to the younger woman. “Detective Jo Martinez, I’ll be your mother hen for the next month.”

Alexandria shook her hand. “Alexandria Kader. Just call me Ria.”

“Nice to meet you, Ria. This is my partner, Detective Hanson.” 

Hanson held up his hand. “Hi.”

“Hi.” After a moment of silence Ria cleared her throat. “’So, what do you want me to do?”

“Well—” The phone rang. Hanson and Jo both dove for it.

Hanson won. “Hello?” He listened to whoever was on the other end. “Be right there.” He hung up the phone and grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair. “We’ve got a body.”

“Where?” Jo asked. Hanson told her and she nodded. “I’ll call Henry.”

* * *

Ria expected to be filing papers, not going out to see a dead body. She was still trying to figure out how she ended up there as she stumbled towards the alleyway behind Detective Martinez. 

Detective Martinez walked up beside a brown haired man wearing a tweed coat. “Good morning, Detective,” the man said. He had a British accent that immediately reminded Ria of the Warrior who was training her to swordfight. 

“Good morning, Henry.” Detective Martinez waved Ria forward. “Ria, this is Henry Morgan, our Medical Examiner. Henry, this is Ria. She’s a student from the Academy.”

“Ria, that’s an interesting name. Or is it a nickname?”

“Nickname.” Ria and Henry shook hands. “Nice to meet you, Dr. Morgan.”

“Likewise.”

“What have you got for us, Henry?” Jo asked. Ria followed them as they walked past the police tape and into the alley. The smell hit her first, sickly sweet, obviously garbage. Then she saw the body that had been dragged out of the open dumpster by the garbage collector standing by it. The man seemed to be in some other world. He didn’t seem to notice that they had arrived. He just kept looking from the body to the dumpster and back like he was watching a tennis match.

“The victim is a woman in her early twenties. From what I can see—”

“Oh my gods,” Ria interrupted Dr. Morgan, staring at the dead woman’s face “that’s Emily Alata!”

Jo looked at her student with surprise. “You know her?”

“Yes.”

Emily Alata was an Amazon. 


	3. Chapter 3

“What have you got for us, Henry?” Jo asked.

Henry looked up from Emily Alata’s body. “Have a look.” He stepped aside so that Jo could see the woman’s neck. Lucas was hovering over his shoulder, not so subtly checking out Ria. She was too busy looking down at Emily’s body and biting her lip to notice.

“As I said, Emily Alata was in her early twenties. Judging by the bruising on her neck she was strangled from behind and the laceration indicates that it was with a narrow rope or wire of some sort.” Henry pointed out each feature as he named it and as he went on Ria’s face grew more and more pinched.

“Coward,” she spat when he’d finished. All three of them looked at her.

“What do you mean by that?” Henry asked.

“He strangled her from _behind_ ,” Ria parroted. “He didn’t want to risk fighting her. Coward.”

Jo raised an eyebrow. “‘He’?”

Ria blushed. “They,” she corrected. “I was assuming. Sorry.”

“Hmm,” Jo said. “Ria, did Emily have anyone who knows why someone would want to kill her?”

“Her…her roommates. They mentioned that she didn’t come home last night,” Ria remembered. “They thought she was with a ma—with a guy.”

“Would you take us to speak with them?” Henry asked.

Ria’s eyes widened. “No! I…I mean I can take Detective Martinez to meet them. They don’t like men.” Well, that was a comforting statement. Something in it nudged at Henry’s memory, but he wasn’t sure what. 

“Now?” Jo asked.

“Um, sure. Let me…call them.”

Jo smiled at her. “I’m sure they won’t mind if we just show up.” If Emily’s roommates were involved with her death in any way she didn’t want to give them any forewarning. Ria paled at the thought, but nodded to her mentor.

“Ria!” Lucas said as the two women turned to leave.

Ria looked at him over her shoulder. “What?”

“Would you like to go out with me? Like, for coffee or something.”

Ria blinked slowly, incredulously. “This is _not_ a good time. No.” She shook her head and hurried after Jo.

Lucas sighed. Henry shook his head at him. “What?”

“Someone she knows is lying here dead, and you asked her on a date? Lucas, you are a smart man, why would you do something so stupid?”

“Uhh…”

Henry shook his head again. “Get back to work, Lucas.”

* * *

_1902-Toronto, Ontario, Canada_

“Please, allow me to escort you home.”

“My sisters don’t like men, Doctor Murdock.” The tall, blond woman dusted off her skirt and accepted her hat from Henry. “I thank you for coming to my aid, but I can make my own way. It is just around the corner.”

The woman placed her slightly crushed hat on her head. Doctor Murdock had pushed her out of the way of a carriage that had come barrelling down the street and her clothes had become quite rumpled as a result.

“Ma’am, I insist upon making sure you arrive safely.”

“I will be fine,” she said sharply. “Thank you, doctor.” She turned to go.

“Might I at least know your name?” Henry had introduced himself, but the woman hadn’t. She stared him down with grey eyes, and for a moment he thought she was going to walk away without another word.

“Pallas.”

“Truly?” That was an odd name. “Is that all?”

“That’s all I care to go by.” Pallas turned away. “Good evening, doctor.”

“Good evening, Miss Pallas.” Henry thought he saw her nod before she disappeared around the corner. What a strange woman. Yet, there was something about her. Henry Morgan, Murdock here, he reminded himself, had to know more. 


	4. Chapter 4

Ria was so dead.

No, that wasn’t true. Detective Martinez was going to make her _wish_ she was dead. Then Convoyer Lu was going to kill her.

And then Nancy and Maria were going to find some demigod that could bring her back to life and kill her for getting killed.

She was so dead.

“Where are we going?” Detective Martinez asked as they got into her car. Ria shook herself out of her thoughts and quickly gave directions.

Detective Martinez somehow found a place to park and Ria led her though the doors of the Amazon office building with trepidation. Nancy was covering the front desk. She looked at Ria with one eyebrow raised.

“This is Detective Martinez,” Ria said. “We’re here to see Rowena and Tabatha.”

Nancy’s other eyebrow jumped up towards her hairline. “Both of you?” she squeaked. Ria nodded. “I’ll…I’ll…go get them.”

“That’s alright,” Detective Martinez smiled. “Just tell us where to find them.”

Nancy looked at Ria, and then looked back at the detective. She picked up her phone. “I’ll call Conv— Daianna and tell her you’re here. They’re in their office. Ria knows the way.”

“Thank you.” Jo tilted her head and looked at Ria. “Lead the way.”

Ria rolled her lips together nervously and started walking. She headed straight to the elevator. They took it up two floors and then headed down the hallway.

On the way, Jo asked, “Is there anything else I should know about Rowena and Tabatha? You said they hate men.”

“I said they don’t _like_ men, detective. Never that they hated men.”

Jo gave a lopsided smile. “Just checking, Ria. But is there anything?”

“Uh…” What could she say, that Rowena and Tabatha were daughters of Hecate? Oh, and Amazons, couldn’t forget that part. And while she was at it, why didn’t she tell Detective Martinez that she was an Amazon initiate? She was sure that that would go over just perfectly.

“They’re sisters,” she settled for. “And they’ll appreciate it if you’re direct with them.”

Rowena was the one to answer the door when Ria knocked. She looked at Jo quickly and then asked Ria, “Can I help you?”

“We need to talk to you about Emily,” Ria said.

Rowena paled. “What happened?”

“She’s been murdered.”

The older Amazon turned from pale as a ghost to the colour of a tomato. “WHAT?”

Ria tried not to shrink into her uniform.

“What’s wrong, Ro?” Tabatha leaned around her sister to see who was standing at the door. Jo stiffened slightly when she saw the mass of scar tissue where Tabatha’s left eye used to be.

“Emily has been murdered,” Rowena said through her teeth. She clenched her fist, obviously aching to grab her bow and shoot whoever had done it full of arrows.

Tabatha’s fingers sparked and Ria stepped back to avoid being turned into a pig. Of course, Jo noticed.

“What are all of you not telling me?” she asked.

Ria looked at the two half-sisters. “It would help if we could tell her.”

Tabatha and Rowena looked at each other. Tabatha shrugged. Rowena rolled her eyes and shook her head helplessly.

“This is on your head, initiate,” Rowena told Ria. Ria gulped and nodded. Then Rowena opened the door wider and said, “Come in. Detective Martinez, correct?”

“Yes,” Jo said with surprise. “Did the receptionist tell you?”

“No. It’s a long story. How much do you know about myths?” 


	5. Chapter 5

Since she wasn’t talking to Henry, Jo didn’t expect to be completely blown away when she was told the ‘long story’.

She was wrong.

“The gods, Greek and Roman, haven’t changed much since ancient times,” Tabatha said.

Rowena interrupted her sister almost at once. “We should start by saying that all the stories are true. Greek, Roman, Egyptian; I think the Norse gods are up in Boston but we don’t mix with them much.”

Tabatha cleared her throat. “As I was saying, the Greek and Roman gods haven’t changed very much, just moved with Western Civilization. Currently they are here, in America.” She paused to see if Jo or Rowena wanted to interject, which neither of them did. “They often…have children with mortals. These children are called demigods, or half-bloods. Children of gods and other species, such as nature spirits, are also called half-bloods, but not demigods. The children of demigods are called legacies on the Roman side. The Greeks, well, we don’t normally live long enough to have children.”

“Tabatha and I are daughters of Hecate,” Rowena said. “Initiate Kader is a descendant of… Peitho, was it?” Ria nodded.

Tabatha closed her eye before speaking again. “Emily was a half-blood, the daughter of Hermes and a dryad. We are all Amazons.”

“Amazons?” Jo said after a moment of silence.

“Yes,” a woman said from the door of the office. Jo and Ria turned to see a Chinese woman who looked around Jo’s age standing in the doorway carrying a pile of file folders. Rowena and Tabatha weren’t the least bit surprised.

Ria sprung out of her chair. “Convoyer Lu!”

“Initiate Kader,” the Convoyer said. “Please sit.”

Ria sat, nearly missing the edge of her chair. Convoyer Lu stepped into the office and placed the files on the desk in front of Jo. “I assume you are Detective Martinez?”

Jo nodded and shook the woman’s hand when it was held out to her. “And you are Convoyer Lu?”

“Yes, I am. I’m in charge of this Amazon base, and I have been heading our investigation into the murders.”

“ _Murders?_ ” Jo and Ria exclaimed. Ria blushed and looked down at her feet.

Convoyer Lu sighed. “Yes. Healer Alata is the third of our Amazons to be murdered by a mortal, though it is the first time _your_ police have seen that.” Lu looked at Jo icily. “We will be claiming her body for the funeral, like the others.”

Jo nodded. She wouldn’t admit it, but she was too wary of the other woman to disagree with her. She gestured to the pile of files. “Is this everything you’ve found so far?”

“It is. Queen Hylla conducted job interviews two months ago. The personal information of all the unsuccessful candidates is in the blue folder. Warriors have been to visit everyone marked with a checkmark, though you may wish to revisit them.” 

Jo opened each of the files and her eyes quickly flashed over the first pages. The faces of three women, Emily Alata, a heavily tattooed blonde and a scared redhead, smiled, or scowled, up at her. 

“Are you sure that this is being done by…mortals? It can’t be anything on your side?”

Convoyer Lu’s face hardened. “I am sure, Detective. If it had been something on our side, as you put it, then we likely wouldn’t have found the bodies.”

Jo closed the last folder. “Thank you for this…Convoyer. Is that your title?”

“It is, as I am a member of the Queen’s court.”

Jo nodded. “Well, thank you again. Can I assume you’ll be in touch?”

“Initiate Kader will carry any messages,” Convoyer Lu said.

Ria nodded in acknowledgment. She followed Jo as the Detective moved to leave the office. Convoyer Lu grabbed her arm. “You will go to Archivist Wood tonight. Be prepared to swear your oath by the weekend.” Lu’s facial expression told Ria that this was non-negotiable. Then she smiled for the first time since she had entered the office. “I will be recommending you for Warrior training.”

Ria bowed her head. “Thank you, Convoyer,” she said before hurrying after Jo.

“What was that about?” Jo asked in a low voice when Ria had caught up to her.

Ria bit her lip. “I am officially becoming an Amazon.”

“Congratulations?”

“Yes, Detective. I thought she was going to kill me.”

“I would have arrested her.”

“It wouldn’t have lasted, but thank you for the thought.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone who's interested, these are the Amazon ranks I came up with for this fic:  
> Initiate (newbie, lasts for up to one year depending on if initiate chooses to join fully earlier)  
> Pais (trainee, lasts for up to four years but can be promoted sooner by Queen or court member[pais means ‘child’ in Greek])  
> Healer (doctors, nurses, medics etc.) OR Warrior (fighters, protectors, train others to fight) OR Archivist (includes translators, librarians, teachers and historians, any intellectuals)  
> Councillor (advises Queen and helps make ‘political’ decisions) OR Convoyer (advises Queen and helps make military decisions)  
> Queen (can be challenged by any Amazon of any rank, makes final decisions, ruler of Amazons)


	6. Chapter 6

There was barely time for a quick lunch before Jo had them trooping through the city again. This time Henry was with them. His presence came in handy when one of the men they went to interview only spoke Italian.

Jo hadn’t known before that that Henry spoke Italian.

Their last man to interview before they called it a day worked in a music store with an ironically broken bell over the door. He was sitting behind the front desk/checkout counter and didn’t even look up from his phone when they were standing right in front of him. “How can I help you?”

“You can tell us where you were this morning at around two o’clock, Mr. Resnick,” Ria said sweetly.

Gavin Resnick’s head shot up and his eyes immediately zeroed in on Ria’s uniform. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before saying, “I was at home. Asleep.”

“You have bags under your eyes that say differently,” Henry said from over on the other side of the room where he was inspecting a violin.

“Trying to sleep,” Resnick corrected, blushing. “I’m an insomniac.”

Jo nodded in understanding. She was no stranger to sleepless nights. She took the picture of Emily Alata that Convoyer Lu had given her out of her jacket pocket and showed it to Resnick. “Have you seen her before?”

Resnick rubbed his eyes and studied the photo. “Don’t tell my boss, but I went for a job interview a few months ago, didn’t get the job obviously, and I saw her there. I bumped into her in the hallway and she looked like she wanted to strangle me.”

“Where was this?”

Resnick pointed vaguely. “At the Amazon offices over on Sixth Avenue. I think she works there.”

Jo nodded and put the photo away. “Thank you for your help, Mr. Resnick.”

“Did something happen to her?” he asked, pointing to where the photo had disappeared into Jo’s jacket.

Ria smiled at him. “Nothing you need to worry about, Mr. Resnick. We’ll be in touch.”

Ria and Jo walked out of the shop. Henry followed, but only after he’d asked Resnick if they sold violin strings.

“Why do you want to know?” Resnick asked.

Henry smiled awkwardly. “I have a very nice violin that I haven’t played for years because the A string is broken and I never seem to have time to buy a new one.” 

“We’re sold out. The next order should come in by next week.”

“I’ll be back then. Have a nice day.”

“Sure, that’s definitely gonna happen while I’m working here,” Resnick muttered bitterly as Henry walked out the door. He thought that the older man was too far away to hear him but he was wrong.

* * *

_1902-Toronto, Ontario, Canada_

Henry didn’t see Pallas again for another week. That wasn’t strange as Toronto did have a fairly large population. When he did see her she was sitting on a bench in High Park squinting at a newspaper. There was another woman slightly younger than her sitting next to her, reading a book. He was about to approach them when the younger woman lifted her head and whispered to Pallas, who nodded.

The two women rose from the bench almost in unison and walked away in opposite directions. Maybe Henry would have followed Pallas, maybe, but he got waylaid by the thankful parents of a boy whose broken leg he’d set. By the time he got out of their clutches, Pallas was long gone. 


	7. Chapter 7

“So,” Jo said after she and Ria had stepped outside and made their way down the steps leading up to the door of the music store. “What was wrong?”

Ria thought for a moment. “He…he blew hot and then cold,” she said slowly.

Jo raised a questioning eyebrow at her.

“Something my _jaddah_ says,” Ria explained. “He only cared when he knew we were cops. When we weren’t cops he treated us like he would any other customer.”

Jo nodded in agreement. Footsteps clattered down the stairs behind them and Henry pulled up beside Jo.

“I believe we have found our murder,” he announced.

“And why is that?” Jo asked.

Henry smiled. “Violin strings.”

“Violin…Oh!” Ria exclaimed. Jo looked at her and nodded.

“So, what do we do now?” Ria asked.

“Hanson will bring him in,” Jo said as she waved to signal to her partner, who was waiting across the street. “We will keep looking into these names. We don’t want to miss anything.”

“Where did you get that list?” Henry asked as they continued walking down the street.

“A trustworthy anonymous source,” Jo assured him.

“How do you know they’re trustworthy?”

“They have a lot resting on this investigation.”

Just as they reached Jo’s car, her phone rang. As she listened to the person who had called her face fell. “Great,” she said. “Yes, do that, Hanson. Okay.”

“What did he say?” Ria asked when Jo had hung up.

Jo sighed. “Resnick is gone.”

* * *

_1902-Toronto, Ontario, Canada_

“Doctor Murdock.”

Henry turned around, sidestepping a boy running down the street as he did, and saw Pallas walking towards him, accompanied by the woman who’d been with her in the park the day before. He smiled at them.

“Miss Pallas, how lovely to see you again.”

“Likewise, doctor.” Pallas turned to the other woman, who was studying Henry intently. “This is my sister, Julia. Julia, this is the man who saved my life.”

“Charmed,” Julia drawled as she shook Henry’s hand. “We’ve heard good things about you, doctor.” 

“That’s nice to hear,” Henry said. He wanted to ask for Julia’s last name so that he could address her properly, but as he remembered how Pallas had refused to give him any more than her one name he didn’t bother. “Where are you ladies off to this late?”

“We were just on our way home,” Pallas said, looking sideways at Julia.

“Perhaps you would allow me to escort you tonight,” Henry offered with a smile.

Pallas laughed lightly. “Perhaps, doctor, if it’s not an inconvenience to you.” 

“As it happens, I’ve just finished work.”

Pallas gave a lopsided smile. “Then you may have the honor of escorting us, Doctor Murdock.”

“I will endeavor to be worthy of it,” he promised. Then he offered to carry the heavy-looking carpet bag that Julia was holding.

Julia gave a smile that was full of teeth as she refused. “Thank you, doctor, but I’d rather keep this close.”

Henry nodded. “As you wish.”

Henry walked with the two women through the gradually emptying streets. As they turned a corner close to where he had saved Pallas from the carriage, two large men walked out from between two buildings and stopped right in front of them. Henry would have assumed that they were sailors, but the tattoos inked on their heavily muscled arms didn’t seem to match that for some reason. He wasn’t sure why.

“Would you lookie here,” the larger man said with a toothy grin. “Such nice ladies without a weapon on them.”

“Dinner?” the other man asked.

The larger man hit him in the back of his head. “Yes, you idiot, dinner. Two half-bloods and a side of mortal.”

“I beg your pardon—” Henry started.

He was interrupted by Pallas pushing him out of the way while Julia reached deep into her bag and pulled out two…fans? She threw one of them to Pallas.

“Not weaponless,” Julia told the men, and she and Pallas set about them with the…were they really fans?

Julia took on the larger man, her dark eyes flashing as her black fan seemingly cut through him from several feet away. Pallas had to get in closer to the smaller man for her gold fan to do damage to him and this put her within easy reach of his sharp nails, or it would have if she stayed in one place for more than a few seconds.

Henry watched, shocked, as the two women battled, for that was the only word for it, the two men, who seemed to double in size as soon as the fight began. There were a few close calls, but eventually Pallas was helping him up off the ground as the two men crumbled to dust behind her. “What…how…who…”

“This is unfortunate,” Julia said dryly. “We will answer your questions, detective, but I would very much like for you to answer one of mine.”

“You would?” Pallas asked. Julia glared at her and she stepped back.

“You should be dead,” Julia said to Henry. “Why aren’t you?” 


	8. Chapter 8

_1902-Toronto, Ontario, Canada_

“Well?” Julia demanded. “We know you’re not a vampyre,” she tapped Henry sharply in the centre of his forehead, “so don’t try using that as an excuse.”

Pallas stepped between Henry and her sister. “Why don’t we talk about this somewhere more… private?” she suggested.

Julia breathed in through her nose and nodded. The two women looked at Henry, who after seeing them kill three men with fans wasn’t about to argue with either of them.

They walked only a few feet down the street before Pallas stopped. Julia looked at her and they had a staring contest for several moments.

“Fine,” Julia said at last. “But you’re getting in trouble for this.”

“We all agreed,” Pallas argued lightly, and she opened the door to a shop Henry had never been in ever before.

_The Ladies’ Tearoom._

The restaurant was completely full, bright and noisy despite the fact that from the outside it looked like it was closed. As they entered the women sitting at the round tables turned to see who had arrived. The room slowly went silent when they saw Henry.

“So,” a redhead woman snapped after a moment, “we’re actually going through with this?”

A blond sitting at the next table over from the redhead said something scathing in a language Henry didn’t recognize. The redhead scowled and marched off, disappearing in the back of the tearoom. A few more of the women got up and followed her, sending distrustful looks towards Henry as they left.

Julia muttered something before claiming a seat at a table that had completely emptied. She looked at Henry and Pallas and they quickly joined her.

A young woman wearing a scandalously thin dress floated over to their table. Henry immediately averted his eyes.

“What can I get you?” the woman asked. 

“The usual please, Bea,” Pallas said. “And tonight’s British special for the man.”

Bea nodded and floated away towards what Henry assumed was the kitchen after sparing him one contemptuous glance.

“That girl is going places,” Julia said approvingly. She turned to Henry. “Now, why aren’t you dead?”

“Because we came in here with him,” Pallas reminded her.

Julia rolled her eyes. “I know _that_.”

“May I ask, why do you think I should be dead?” Henry said carefully. 

Julia looked at Pallas and said something in the same language the blond woman a few tables over had spoken in. Pallas replied in kind and then Henry just had to sit back while they had a full blown conversation that he couldn’t understand.

“Fine,” Julia said just as Bea came back to their table with three plates of food. “But if he tells anyone I get to drag him and whoever he told right down to my father.”

Pallas just sighed and didn’t say anything for or against Julia’s plan. Bea flinched when Julia mentioned her father and Henry got the feeling that the man was someone he did not want to meet.

“Bangers and mash,” Bea said as she placed the meal Pallas had ordered for Henry in front of him. “Tea?”

“Oh, yes please,” Henry said, looking quickly from his colourful plate of sausages, mashed potatoes and various roasted vegetables to Bea’s face and back again.

Bea smirked. She had apparently noticed that he was steadfastly not looking at her. “Coming right up. Enjoy your dinner.”

Pallas picked up her knife and fork. “So, doctor,” she said conversationally, “what do you know about classical mythology?”

* * *

“Yes, I understand.” Ria wrote on the legal pad that Jo had given to her. “Yes, I’ll tell her. Goodbye.”

She hung up the phone and the smile she had been wearing the entire time she’d been talking immediately evaporated. “Gods of Olympus.”

“What do they have?” Jo asked, looking up from her computer.

Ria shook her head and handed her pages of note across the desk to Jo. “In short, nothing. Absolutely nothing.”

“Uh huh,” Jo said, perusing the first page. “Who did you speak to?”

“Not Detective Hanson.”

Jo nodded. “Of course. Well, you may as well head home, Ria.”

“But—”

“It’s late,” Jo said, more firmly. “And you said this morning that your sisters will have you up early tomorrow.”

Ria eye’s widened. “I forgot!” She grabbed her jacket off the back of Hanson’s chair and started hurrying towards the door. Halfway there she stopped and turned around. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Jo gave a small smile and nodded. “See you tomorrow, and good luck.”

“Thank you, detective.”

Ria hailed a taxi and headed back to the Amazon building while Jo went through her notes. Ria was right, they had absolutely nothing.

“That’s just great.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be fair, Henry would probably know Ancient Greek, but we're going to pretend he doesn't.


	9. Chapter 9

“Since this guy has been murdering Amazons will we get him after the police are done?” Maria wanted to know after Ria had told her and Nancy what she could about the case.

Ria looked down at the daughter of Ares from her vantage point of the top bunk. “I don’t know. Convoyer Lu might be able to arrange something, but I think she’d need the Queen’s permission.”

“Don’t you think it’s scary?” Nancy asked. “I mean, this guy’s still out there. It could be any of us next.”

“We’ll catch him,” Ria assured her. “Probably?”

“That’s encouraging,” Maria said sarcastically.

Ria smiled apologetically.

“Well, it’s not really your job anyway,” Nancy said with only slightly forced cheerfulness, “not yet, so let’s get back to the important stuff for this weekend.”

She held up the sketchpad she had been working away on for the past few days. She was majoring in fashion design so even the quick-and-dirty design she had said she was going to make, her exact words being “I’ll throw something together,” took a long time to finish. “What do you think?”

Ria gasped. “Oh! I love it! But where does my sword go?”

Nancy grinned. She flipped over the page of armour designs that looked beautiful as well as practical and showed Ria the very technical drawing of a leather and bronze sheath with several straps that could be adjusted to strap her sword to her back or around her waist.

“Wow,” Maria said. “That’s awesome. You should totally charge her for that.”

“Charge what?” Ria asked. “When’s the last time you payed for anything around here? When’s the _first_ time?”

Nancy closed her sketchbook. “Well, this is a gift. With Jayde and Lulu’s help it should be ready in a few hours.”

After those few hours Ria was nervously getting into her new armour while reciting her oath over and over again in her head. Convoyer Lu would be standing in for the Queen, so she really, _really_ didn’t want to mess up.

* * *

Jo waved her hand in front of Ria’s face. When that didn’t do anything she clapped loudly.

Ria jumped and nearly fell out of her chair. “I’m awake!”

“Now you are,” Jo said, doing her best to look stern while actually hiding a smile. “You do realize that we have work to do?”

“Yes Conv—, detective. Sorry. I’ve been on the night guard all weekend. ”

Ria reached for the map she was supposed to be studying but froze halfway there. Then she swore, or Jo assumed she swore since she wasn’t speaking in English, and turned around to take something out of her bag. “Map, map, map…”she muttered. “Ah!”

She unfolded the map over the one that Hanson had found that morning. “I can’t believe I forgot about this!”

Considering that she’d been at least half asleep since she’d arrive, Jo didn’t have a hard time believing that Ria had forgotten something.

“What is this?” Jo asked.

“A map of the _entire_ city,” Ria replied. “I got it from the Archivists.”

She looked around to make sure that no one was listening in and then pointed to the map. “See all the different colours? Black is Amazon territory, orange is Greek, purple is Roman, blue is Egyptian, red is Norse, navy blue is vampyre, grey is mortal, and any place with an exclamation mark is where there are monsters.”

Jo leaned over the map and began examining it with interest. “Are the exclamation marks _moving_?”

Ria nodded. “Simple tracking spell, apparently.”

She studied the map as well, since she hadn’t really gotten a good look at it before. Okay, the main Amazon building in New York was there. The police academy was there. They were there. The music store that Resnick worked at was there…

It was orange.

And had multiple exclamation marks.

Ria turned pale. “Detective Martinez?”

She pointed to the building on the map. Jo looked at it for a moment. “Would Convoyer Lu mind helping with this?” she asked.

“I’ll ask her,” Ria promised. “Five minutes.”

“We’re leaving in three.”


	10. Chapter 10

Ria wasn’t surprised when they arrived at the store to find twenty Amazons lurking outside armed to the teeth. Seeing all the weapons left her feeling practically naked until Rowena tossed her sword to her. She strapped it around her waist and nodded her thanks.

Jo looked away from the store’s entrance and blinked in surprise when she saw the Amazons. “When did you get here?” She looked at Ria. “And when did you get a gun?”

“Sword,” Ria corrected. “It’s a sword.”

Tabatha sighed. “You can’t see through the Mist,” she said to Jo.

“So?” Jo asked. She took out her gun and raised an eyebrow at Tabatha. “It’s my investigation. You’re the ones taking care of the monsters.”

Rowena shrugged. “She’s not wrong.”

Tabatha rolled her eye and ordered her sister Amazons to split into two groups and start sweeping the building. She and Rowena stayed with Jo and Ria. They decided to cover the first floor of the two story building, the public store area that was slightly less likely to have monsters in it than the private classrooms on the second floor and in the basement.

The store was closed and the inside was dark. One of the Amazons, a teenage daughter of Hermes, touched the lock and it clicked open. “I’ve shut down the security system,” she said as she opened the door. “If we don’t break anything no one will know we were here.”

A few of the other Amazons laughed. Imagine that, a group of mostly demigods not breaking anything when they’re fighting monsters.

The daughter of Hermes looked at Jo. Jo shrugged. “I didn’t see anything. Let’s go.”

“Can we keep her?” the daughter of Hermes asked Tabatha as they went inside.

Tabatha cracked a smile. “We’ll see.”

* * *

_1902-Toronto, Ontario, Canada_

Henry sat back in his chair. He had been leaning closer and closer as Pallas and Juila told their story and if he hadn’t moved back he would likely have knocked the table over.

“That is absolutely fascinating,” he said.

“I’m glad you think so,” Julia said dryly. “You had better not tell anyone.”

Henry looked at the daughter of Pluto with wide eyes. “Of course not! I would certainly not do something as foolish as that.”

“If you do, we’ll kill you,” Julia warned.

Henry chuckled. “You would find that a tad difficult. You see, I don’t stay dead.”

Pallas also laughed. “I bet your father hates that,” she said to Julia.

Julia rolled her eyes.

“What do you mean you don’t stay dead?” Julia asked. “You die and then what? You wake up somewhere else with a new body?”

Henry nodded.

“That’s perfect,” Pallas said, interrupting him as he was about to speak. “Doctor Murdock—”

“Morgan,” Henry corrected. “My real name is Henry Morgan.”

“Doctor Morgan,” Pallas allowed. “There is a monster that has been murdering our sisters. We need your help to stop it.”

“I wouldn’t use the word ‘need’,” Julia complained. “Killing it would be easier with your help.”

“What sort of help?” Henry wanted to know.

Since Pallas had thought that it was a good thing that he was able to die and come back to life somewhere else, he could only guess that what they wanted help with would be dangerous.

“The monster frequents a gentlemen’s club,” Pallas explained. “That is the only time it is not surrounded by innocents.”

“The other men welcome it,” Julia said, puckering her mouth. “They think it will give them power. Idiots.”

“There are too many protections on the club for us to go right in,” Pallas continued. “But if we get you an invitation to the club you would be able to capture the monster and bring it out for us to destroy. You read as a normal mortal.”

“Our leader doesn’t want us to just destroy the whole club with it inside,” Julia complained. “Not unless we have to. She thinks this will work though.”

Henry thought for a few moments. “How would the monster be captured?”

“Will you help us?” Julia asked.

Henry nodded. He was a doctor. It was his job to preserve life, even if the people weren’t “innocents”.

“Julia will provide you with a vessel. All you have to do is get close enough to touch the monster with it,” Pallas explained. 

“And what is this monster?” Henry wanted to know.

Pallas and Julia looked at each other.

“We shouldn’t say it,” Pallas said.

“Names have power,” Julia agreed.

“Well, could you write it down?”

Julia debated for a moment before calling Bea and asking for a pencil and paper. She scribbled on the paper as fast as she could and turned it towards Henry to show him the one word written on it.

Eidolon.


	11. Chapter 11

_1902-Toronto, Ontario, Canada_

The club was called the Dragon’s Club. It was a large brick building tucked into an intersection. There was an imposing gargoyle that looked quite a bit like a dragon between a second floor window and the front door that leered down at anyone entering the building. Visitors were also greeted by the iron dragon’s head doorknocker that snarled up with narrow eyes and sharp teeth. 

Henry had been assured by the Amazons that there weren’t any real dragons in residence.

He adjusted his hat and gloves and then raised the doorknocker. The sound of the knocks echoed in the entryway and the sound of footsteps was soon to follow.

A squinting young man with wrinkled gloves opened the door. With one hand raised to shield his eyes from the sunlight he asked, “Who are you?”

Henry gave a winning smile and replied, “Doctor Malcolm Henry, at your service.”

The young man squinted even more. “What you want?”

“I’ve been invited by Mister James Short.”

Henry presented the forged invitation to the young man. He squinted at it for a few moments and grunted. The invitation was handed back to Henry with a nod.

“Right this way, doctor.”

The squinty young man took Henry’s hat and led him into the back parlour of the house, where a large group of men was gathered. The men didn’t look away from their conversations as Henry and Squinty entered the room.

Squinty cleared his throat and announced, “Doctor Malcolm Henry, invited by Mister James Short.”

There was a grumbling that travelled around the very red room. A man with greying hair raised an eyebrow. “Truly? What was Short thinking?”

A redhead who looked around Henry’s physical age sighed and then stood, offering his white-gloved hand to Henry. “I apologize for my contemporaries, doctor,” he said. “They don’t seem to have learned their manners quite yet.”

The other club members scowled. One man laughed. Henry shook the redhead’s hand and then the redhead turned to Squinty. “West, fetch a drink for our guest,” he ordered. “And please fix your gloves.”

“Right away, sir.”

“Please, doctor, sit,” the redhead insisted as Squinty hurried out of the room. “Oh, but I am forgetting _my_ manners. I am Mister John Watt.”

As Henry took a seat, Watt went on to introduce the other members of the club. The greying man was Mister Albert Pye. The man who laughed was Robert Quinzel.

“I’m afraid Short isn’t here at the moment,” Watt apologized to Henry, “but he should be along shortly.”

Watt cracked a smile and Quinzel laughed.

Henry chuckled. “I’m sure I can spare the time to wait until he arrives, though I do have another engagement across town at eight. Mister Short’s invitation came as quite a surprise. I don’t believe we’ve even met before.”

Pye grumbled again but was otherwise silent.

“He won’t be long,” Quinzel drawled. “Fancy a game of chess?”

“Only if you’re prepared to be beaten,” Henry said.

Quinzel grinned. “You I like.”

Halfway through their game, while the other men were talking, Squinty re-entered the room with a glass of wine and slightly less wrinkled gloves. “Your drink, doctor. Mister Short has arrived. He’s waiting for you in the small parlour.”

Henry nodded and made one final move with his queen. “Checkmate.”

While Quinzel blinked at the chess board incomprehensively, Henry took the glass from Squinty and followed him to a smaller room that was less red and gold than the back parlor was. Short was standing over by the window nursing his own glass of wine with his gloves folded neatly on a side table.

“Leave us, West,” Short said without turning around.

Squinty stumbled out of the room and shut the door behind him. Short turned and fixed Henry with his cold gold eyes.

“Doctor Henry,” he snarled, “if that even is your name, how _lovely_ to meet you.”

He extended his bare hand towards Henry. “Shall we go through the niceties before I kill you?”

“We shall,” Henry replied.

He shook Short’s hand and his glove quickly took on the golden glow that was draining from Short’s eyes.

“Though I don’t believe you’ll be killing me,” Henry said as Short fell to the floor, unconscious. “I think I’ll show myself out.”

By some miracle, or godly intervention, Henry met no resistance as he retrieved his hat and made his way out of the building. After walking down a few streets he was joined by Julia and Pallas, who walked up silently either side of him.

“Did you get it?” Julia demanded.

Without a word Henry handed her the now struggling golden glove. Julia gave a curt nod. “This will be going straight into Tartarus,” she said. She hesitated for a moment before adding, “Thank you, doctor.”

“You are very welcome.”

Julia’s face clearly showed a high level of internal conflict before she took a step into the shadow of a shop and disappeared.

Pallas and Henry continued walking until they had to stop to let a wagon pass in front of them.

“At least I didn’t have to push you out of the way of that one,” Henry quipped.

Pallas laughed. “Quite.”

She bit her lip. “Thank you very much for your help, doctor. My sisters likely won’t admit it, but we couldn’t have done this without you.”

“I’m sure you could have come up with something,” Henry said.

Pallas grimaced. “Well, we do have a vampyre that owes us a favour, but I’d really rather he forgets about us.”

Henry nodded in understanding. 

“I know it’s not proper,” Pallas said suddenly, “but I would like to see you again. For now, would you escort me home?”

Henry smiled. “It would be an honour.”

She put her non-sword hand on the crook of his elbow and smiled back. “Then let’s go.”


	12. Chapter 12

“I hate _cerastae_!” Ria shouted. She swung her sword at one of the spineless snakes that were flying through the air and swore as it deflected the blow with its horns and twisted around the blade.

Tabatha scowled at her sister as she burned several of the monsters to ashes. “I told you not to open that door.”

“I thought you meant the other door,” Rowena complained. “Jo, duck!”

Jo hit the floor a split second before Rowena fired the arrow that pinned the _cerastes_ that had been diving towards Jo to the wall. The ram-horned snake, which to Jo's eyes was a very green pigeon, let out a dying hiss before crumbling to dust.

Contrary to their expectations, the first floor was mined with monsters. Nothing big to be sure, the _cerastae_ were the most dangerous things they had found so far, but there were a lot of them.

And they all wanted to attack.

It was annoying.

About twenty minutes later, once the two Amazons whose weapons actually worked against the _cerastae_ had killed all of them, there was a shout from the basement. “We found him!”

“Him and three hellhounds,” the daughter of Hermes complained as her group came dragging an unconscious Resnick up the stairs. “I don’t know how this place is still standing.”

Tabatha crouched down next to Resnick once he was dumped unceremoniously on the floor. Her hand hovered over his face and a golden mist formed between them. The mist dissipated when she moved her hand away.

“Eidolon,” she announced.

Rowena groaned. “I thought all the ones that escaped during the war were sent back.”

Jo made a mental note to ask about this war later, _much_ later.

“Evidently not,” Tabatha said.

She looked up at Ria. “You’ll have to get rid of it.”

“Me?” Ria asked, surprised. “Me, with…”

Tabatha nodded.

“But, but, I’ve never used charmspeak on a monster before.”

“You’ll be fine,” Tabatha insisted.

Ria thought for a few moments, then nodded slowly. “Alright.”

She crouched down next to Tabatha and slapped Resnick’s face.

“Wake up,” she ordered.

Even though the words weren’t directed to her, Jo felt herself become more alert. Resnick’s eyes shot open.

“Don’t speak,” Ria told him. “Don’t possess anyone or anything else. Understand?”

Resnick nodded grudgingly.

“Now, you are going to leave this body. You will not possess anyone or anything else. You will not kill anyone ever again. Promise?”

Resnick nodded, his eyes glowing gold.

“Swear on the river Styx,” Ria said. “You may speak.”

Resnick, the eidolon possessing Resnick, gulped. “I swear on the river Styx to leave this body, not possess anyone or anything else, and never kill again.”

Thunder rumbled.

“Leave now,” Ria said.

The eidolon grumbled, but the glow in Resnick’s eyes disappeared. Jo could only assume that the monster was gone when Resnick fell back into unconsciousness.

Rowena nodded. “He’s all yours, detective.”

“Thank you,” Jo said.

The Amazons grinned.

“So, what’s going to happen to Resnick?” Ria asked Jo as they sat doing paperwork a few days later. “If we’re right he won’t remember killing anyone.”

“He’ll probably be sent to a psychiatric hospital ,” Jo said. “Poor guy. It wasn’t his fault. Pass me that folder.”

Ria gave Jo the file. “Oh, that reminds me, Doctor Morgan called. He wanted to know if you could meet him for lunch.”

Jo looked down at the piles of files covering both their desks and then looked at Ria with both eyebrows raised.

“I think you should go,” Ria said. “He wants to talk about Resnick so you can tell yourself it’s for work if you really want to. Just don’t tell him anything about you-know-what.”

Jo smiled. “Of course.”

“Does that mean you’ll go?”

Jo thought for a minute. Henry had trusted her with his secret, the least she could do was go to lunch with him. “Yes.”

“Good.” Ria said. “You like him, _like_ like him, and it’s not like he’s secretly a god or something.” She laughed slightly at her own joke.

Jo didn’t dispute that she _like_ liked Henry, she just smiled as she went back to her work.

If Ria only knew…

* * *

The End


End file.
